Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Continuing Studies at Stanford
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| I'm hoping, next week, to find this same set of tables and chairs, in orange:) |
Enrolled in the 'Financial Aspects of Business' course at SCS, I found myself learning, interacting with and most importantly DOING some very interesting things that made life in the US more normal and less alien. Very often while in the campus, I was intrigued by the beautiful architecture and landscaping around me. I sometimes paused and tried to capture the memory of walking amidst those trees, lawns, fountains and beautiful buildings. One day, while walking towards my block, I saw a row of tables covered with yellow tablecloths and sheltered by large white umbrellas, surrounded by white chairs. It looked like an Egg had been beautifully cut out in the shape of furniture and arranged on the lawn.
The next week, once again, while walking towards my block, I noticed the same row of tables and chairs, except that the tables were covered with lime-green tablecloths instead of yellow. This time, I decided I had to capture it, not just in my memory but also on my camera:)
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Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Road-trip to Colorado!
The last few weeks have been very hectic for Prince (my husband) and Me, thanks to his interviews and deadlines. And now that we are moving to California, all the packing and then planning the move does not help. In an effort to squeeze in a small 'holiday' into our daily routine, Prince and I decided to hit the road and drive to Mountain View, California, before he begins work at the new place he's joined. California, from what I've heard is very different from Austin where we currently live. Prince, I must say, was a little sad about leaving Austin since he's been here for the last 7.5 years, and for him its as good as once again leaving Kanpur, his hometown, and moving to another city for growth. However, these days, he's a little excited about moving out and has managed to detach himself from the youth of this city and the aura of the UT Campus.
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| The Havasu Falls at Arizona |
I, being the very excited one, initially got very ambitious about this road trip and thought we'll make it a long 15 day thing. Busy as he is with his deadline, the planning bit was left to me and I thought we could go via a number of places, halting at each of them for a day or half and a night. So I figured we could cover amongst others, the Balmorhea State Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Havasu Falls Trail, Painted Desert, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas before finally reaching Mountain View. Yes, that's how ambitious I got:)! It was difficult to not want so much considering these places are so scenic!
I can only thank God for the smart, practical person that Prince is and for the fact that he understands my craziness without losing his patience because what followed was a lot of discussion on how much fun this trip would be (me) as well as how impractical and tiring it would get (him) since he would not be able to take that many days off before his deadline and he'd have to start work immediately after this trip. So, cutting the long conversation short, we decided to make it a 5 day trip, stopping at Grand Canyon and Las Vegas on the way.
So the itinerary now looks a little like this:
Day 1 - Start early morning from Austin, stop at Albuquerque for a night (its a 12 hour 15 min drive)
Day 2 - Start early from Albuquerque, head for Grand Canyon (6.5 hour drive), spend the night there
Day 3 - Spend all day at Grand Canyon and spend the night there
Day 4 - Start noon from Grand Canyon, head for Vegas (5 hour drive), spend the evening/night at Vegas
Day 5 - Start mid-day from Vegas and head for Mountain View (9.5 hour drive)
So yes, Day 1 is pretty much spent driving, and its not too bad since we both enjoy driving, we can take turns and there's nothing like listening to good music, enjoying the scenic drive or watching some Bollywood flick while the other (Prince ;P ) drives. Since it's my first time in the US and I have traveled only to San Antonio, Houston and California so far, halting at Albuquerque and snuggling into bed after a long day's drive is not too bad.
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| Hermit's Rest |
After/before Hopi Point, I'd like to take the short scenic drive to Hermit's Rest which is a declared National Historic Landmark. The drive sounds like a fun, easy-going, less-tiring way to introduce ourselves to the Canyon, explore a bit and end the day. Also, a confirmed stop will be the gift shop at Hermit's Rest from where I'm gonna collect souvenirs like refrigerator magnets, small animal figures, postcards et al.)
For dinner, without doubt, El Tovar Dining Room is the place. I've been reading rave reviews of this place all over the net. Which reminds me, I have to make dinner reservations here.
Day 3 is probably going to see a little more activity. We will explore Grand Canyon as much as possible. This would probably include getting inside the Canyon (maybe the Bright Angel Trail) to get
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| Bright Angel Trail |
We're gonna wake up early on Day 4 to take pictures of the sunrise on our last day at Grand Canyon. After that, breakfast at one of it's popular restaurants and then we could either go toDesert View Watchtower or the Grand Canyon Railway, depending on how lazy/active we are and how much time we have. By noon we should hopefully start our journey towards Vegas.
It's surprising that although I would normally be verrry excited about going to Vegas, I am not so excited this time. Maybe it' because we're gonna be there only for an evening and a half of the next day? Or maybe it's because there are so many fun things to do in Vegas that I do not really feel like planning anything. Just some partying and gambling (this will be my first time) and hanging around is going to do me good:) And did I forget to mention eating and drinking? Yes, that makes it almost perfect!
Wow! Next week this time, I should be driving with Prince toward Grand Canyon and I can't wait for it! Lets hope Mr Prince Charming does not change his schedule and then eventually postpone/cancel this road trip! If he does, my next post will be titled 'How to make your husband pay for cancelled holidays'
:)
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Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Thoughts of an 'idle' mind.
There was so much he could do with his life. Man. So many roads to walk on and so many dreams to create. If he has ever asked himself 'What is my purpose,' he'd know the reason is so small, that no-one will believe it fully. So small, that he'd like not to believe it too.
When I talk about fear, I am tempted to talk about the 'fight or flight' response, claimed by physiologists to be a natural 'reflex' reaction to what has an ability to cause fear. With the fight or flight response, the power to fight is so strong, that nothing at that time can stop man from either killing or getting killed, over-coming or drowning in the struggle. And the power of flight is also so strong that the laziest, weakest of people will put all their effort to flee from the scene. The power of flight is so enormous that even the 'bravest,' 'smartest' of people will use 'flee' as a response to their personal challenges; disagreeing to acknowledge their own short-comings and cowardice, cheating their egos into believing that they are clear by conscience and have been honest, fair and 'fearless' on their part.
Fear creates 'fight or flight' both of which have the potential of creating a feeling of eustress. This is what makes man the most creative during his worst times, the most productive when he seems to have become disabled. This is what has led to the levels of high-tech lives that we live today. Creation happens under stress. Man made tools and weapons for survival. His fear, his responses of fighting or fleeing helped him survive and helped him indulge in the arts. And this is how fear has won innumerable times.
UNITY FOR SURVIVAL
Does this mean 'Majority Wins?' I guess so. At least in the eye of the other majority, it is majority that has won, regardless of whether it was right or wrong. When a majority loses, it is because of a lack of unity in thought and idea. And when a minority wins, it is because of an enormous amount of unity and passion. Passion. Ah, how i feel like jumping to that topic now, but I shall refrain.
So yes, Unity, I feel is also a way for the weak ones to survive. Remember that story of a single twig being easy to break but numerous twigs being difficult, almost impossible to break? The moral of the story was not only 'Strength in Unity' but also 'Unity for survival.' The weak need it. The unsure, insecure people will do everything they can; even betray the minority of their family only to remain a part of the majority. Now I almost sound like I hold something against unity. I don't. And I hold nothing against the weak. But yes, I find it extremely difficult to fully forgive the weak who betray but walk like proud men.
Oh and it's not only about that. Because when someone flees from their responsibility, it is only natural to expect them to flee from owning up to it too. I find it difficult to forgive them because they are in general 'intelligent' people with all senses functioning well. Yet, they fail to listen and conclude rightly, they fail to see and observe properly and they fail to differentiate between the genuine and superficial touch. They flee so much that they forget how they felt with every victory when they were once fighters. And they wonder if it was just youth that made them happy.
AM I IMPORTANT??
He can go about wondering then, if he is important at all? Because all of mankind, somewhere wants to believe that it is important. For if one is not important, what is the point in existing at all? Why be? Just because some people will shed tears after you are gone, does not mean you are important. Some lives depend on you, but that does not make you important. You can give the world new technology, beautiful art, sky scrapers, soulful music or even the best food in the world, but does it make you important. Not really...but why do we still have this need to feel important?
HOPELESS!
So then, maybe this is why, at some point, Man stops thinking about his 'purpose.' Because the realization that he is unimportant is so subtle and yet so strong within him, that it becomes easy to overlook it and yet difficult to deny it. Hopeless. This is the word. That is how he feels. This is how little he expects, not from himself, not from the world but from the so called 'Creator' who seems to have seriously made this world his movie-theater.
THE WORLD'S A MOVIE?!
To imagine that we are all but actors, puppets in his hand - jumping, wriggling our buttocks, laughing and thinking of devious plans just because it was his sudden idea of self entertainment is plain pathetic. And to further that thought, I wonder how devious 'God' himself might be to have made nations go to war, kill thousands, rape and re-rape ruthlessly, tirelessly....all so that his 'movie' gets more interesting?
IGNORE HIM!!
No, this write-up is not to question God's intentions. It does not have a hidden agenda of raising questions about God - why is he a 'He,' does he exist, what is his reason, why do we need him..yada yada yada. Yes, this article may have a flavor that possibly makes you think all those questions while reading it, but that, is not the reason why it has been written. It instead is asking you to, for once, ignore 'God,' because when I do that, all I can marvel is at the power of unity and the power of fear.
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UNITY & FEAR FOOL YOU!
It seems to me that there is probably no power greater than the united power of men. Soldiers who believe that going to war is their 'purpose.' How important does it make them feel? I wouldn't know. How proud do their families feel? I wouldn't know. But how it leads to nothing but anger, pain and loss, I do know. Regardless of whether the war is won or lost, I believe that unity has won.When I talk about fear, I am tempted to talk about the 'fight or flight' response, claimed by physiologists to be a natural 'reflex' reaction to what has an ability to cause fear. With the fight or flight response, the power to fight is so strong, that nothing at that time can stop man from either killing or getting killed, over-coming or drowning in the struggle. And the power of flight is also so strong that the laziest, weakest of people will put all their effort to flee from the scene. The power of flight is so enormous that even the 'bravest,' 'smartest' of people will use 'flee' as a response to their personal challenges; disagreeing to acknowledge their own short-comings and cowardice, cheating their egos into believing that they are clear by conscience and have been honest, fair and 'fearless' on their part.
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| Stephen Hawking |
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EUSTRESS:)
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UNITY FOR SURVIVAL
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| Unity: School of fish chasing a Shark. |
Oh and it's not only about that. Because when someone flees from their responsibility, it is only natural to expect them to flee from owning up to it too. I find it difficult to forgive them because they are in general 'intelligent' people with all senses functioning well. Yet, they fail to listen and conclude rightly, they fail to see and observe properly and they fail to differentiate between the genuine and superficial touch. They flee so much that they forget how they felt with every victory when they were once fighters. And they wonder if it was just youth that made them happy.
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Thursday, 19 July 2012
Between you and me...
These are parallel worlds..yours, mine and ours...each world believing in another..unsure if it exists...yet being connected by unseen strings. You are not new, neither is your existence to me..yet, in your absence, I doubt if your real...
I move on and I feel no difference. Like nothing is lost. Like everything remains just as it was. This cup will remain full for as long as I keep drinking from it.
In sunset and with sunrise, you enter before I open my eyes. These are not tears, they are only the rays of your light.
Its like a feeling of being barren. Of being incapable of retaining life. These are my war times. A battle with an enemy I'm not sure I know. It's not a win-win situation for sure. For whoever is defeated, remains to be a dead part of me.
So yesterday when I nearly lost my life, I was pulled out, punishment is not in demise. For punishment is maybe not the Universe's style.
I move on and I feel no difference. Like nothing is lost. Like everything remains just as it was. This cup will remain full for as long as I keep drinking from it.
In sunset and with sunrise, you enter before I open my eyes. These are not tears, they are only the rays of your light.
Its like a feeling of being barren. Of being incapable of retaining life. These are my war times. A battle with an enemy I'm not sure I know. It's not a win-win situation for sure. For whoever is defeated, remains to be a dead part of me.
So yesterday when I nearly lost my life, I was pulled out, punishment is not in demise. For punishment is maybe not the Universe's style.
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Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Selfish vs Coward
There is something strange about living under the cloud of being grateful. Because you don't know when it's going to burst and when you are going to have to use your umbrella of truth and get ungrateful altogether!
It is indeed strange when you need to explain that it was not ungratefulness on your part but rather your integrity. It is difficult, most, to explain yourself to the people who you call family while they never stand by you. Or at least that is truly how I can feel about it.
Anyway, so what do you do when your difficult, orthodox folks call off a wedding because of what seems to you (and to any other unbiased person) like an ego clash with your prospective in-laws? WOW! Isn't that like 'Oh, your friend laughed at my haircut? You are not going to that school anymore!!'
No seriously, I wonder how a family of 20+ people can be okay with that while ignoring the fact that their child is for once very happy and 'right' by their original definitions. It may make you question all the things you have learned while growing up...wonder if it's hypocrisy on their part or stupidity on yours to have believed that the morals you were given were actually things your folks believed in and followed too.
So yes, this is when I decide to do what I think will make me feel proud. I decide not to betray someone I love and who loves me back. Walking out on one's family is very difficult. Because it makes you feel that there is no one you can come back to when things go wrong...and it makes you want to make sure you never have reason to ever depend on anyone else. And you know, in anger, all you can do is act, but you can not change your feelings, erase your memories and start afresh like nothing ever happened.
The strangest part is when they call you selfish. And you wonder which fool said that being selfish is wrong and easy. Because it so is not easy and it is so much of a right thing to do.
Row for yourself, and you're never going to sink. And when the storms overturn your boat, you'll drown without regrets.
Yeah, call me selfish. What do you think I should call you? Coward?
It is indeed strange when you need to explain that it was not ungratefulness on your part but rather your integrity. It is difficult, most, to explain yourself to the people who you call family while they never stand by you. Or at least that is truly how I can feel about it.
Anyway, so what do you do when your difficult, orthodox folks call off a wedding because of what seems to you (and to any other unbiased person) like an ego clash with your prospective in-laws? WOW! Isn't that like 'Oh, your friend laughed at my haircut? You are not going to that school anymore!!'
No seriously, I wonder how a family of 20+ people can be okay with that while ignoring the fact that their child is for once very happy and 'right' by their original definitions. It may make you question all the things you have learned while growing up...wonder if it's hypocrisy on their part or stupidity on yours to have believed that the morals you were given were actually things your folks believed in and followed too.
So yes, this is when I decide to do what I think will make me feel proud. I decide not to betray someone I love and who loves me back. Walking out on one's family is very difficult. Because it makes you feel that there is no one you can come back to when things go wrong...and it makes you want to make sure you never have reason to ever depend on anyone else. And you know, in anger, all you can do is act, but you can not change your feelings, erase your memories and start afresh like nothing ever happened.
The strangest part is when they call you selfish. And you wonder which fool said that being selfish is wrong and easy. Because it so is not easy and it is so much of a right thing to do.
Row for yourself, and you're never going to sink. And when the storms overturn your boat, you'll drown without regrets.
Yeah, call me selfish. What do you think I should call you? Coward?
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